City of London to host International Green Finance Summit

The City of London Corporation will tomorrow (17th) host the international Green Finance Summit in London’s historic Guildhall. The conference will bring together more than 1000 delegates from across the financial and professional services industry to participate in a day of lectures, roundtables, and networking events. There are more than 60 speakers scheduled.

John Glen MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, will give the keynote address to open the Summit, following speeches by the Lord Mayor of London, Charles Bowman, and Sir Roger Gifford, current chair of the Green Finance Initiative. Sir Roger will also become the Chair of a Steering Group that will scope and deliver the Green Finance Institute, announced by the Chancellor at his Mansion House speech last month.

Other individuals joining the Steering Group have been selected and represent a wide cross section from the worlds of finance, regulation, and academia. SYSTEMIQ, an advisory and investment firm dedicated to the creation of sustainable economic systems in energy, industry, and land use has been selected as the consultancy partner for this project and will support strategy development and business planning for the Institute.

London is currently a world leading centre for green finance, with nearly 80 green bonds raising more than $24 billion across seven currencies. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate Change estimates around $93 trillion of global infrastructure investment between 2015 and 2030 will need to be green in order to meet climate change commitments. The green bond market grew by 78% between 2016 to 2017, to $155 billion in issuances.

At the Summit the Lord Mayor is expected to announce that the Chartered Banker Institute will be supporting the development of the world’s first benchmark Green Finance Qualification for bankers in the UK and abroad.

Commenting on the Summit the Lord Mayor of London, Charles Bowman said:

“Green finance is a fast-growing sector here in the City of London, and an important offer to our partners across the world.

“I’m confident that the Government and industry’s commitment to Green Finance will create new business opportunities and continue to grow London’s offer.

“Promoting this is not only good for business but is good for the world; helping tackle one of our greatest challenges – climate change.

“London is already a world leader in green finance and this Summit is bringing together industry leaders from across the world to ensure we remain so for years to come.”

“The Institute is proud to have launched the world’s first benchmark qualification for green finance. We recognise that successfully embedding green finance at the heart of the financial services sector means developing the capabilities of significant numbers of green finance professionals.

“We strongly believe that this qualification will help these individuals develop and demonstrate the specific knowledge and expertise needed to help direct investments to support transition to a low carbon world, address climate-related risk, and explore green finance opportunities.”

Jeremy Oppenheim, founder and senior partner at SYSTEMIQ said:

“The transition to a low-carbon economy is a massive opportunity for the UK, which has the potential to lead the world in cutting emissions and strengthening climate resilience, while driving growth.

"It is an honour to be working with the City of London and its partners at the Green Finance Initiative to help unlock this opportunity and enhance the role of London as the world’s preeminent green finance hub."

The Summit is being sponsored by the City of London Corporation, Amundi, Carbon Delta, and The Green Investment Group.

Mark Dooley, Global Head of Green Energy for Macquarie Capital and the Green Investment Group said:

“The global energy transition is one of the grand challenges of our time and a huge opportunity. The UK and London have built a world-leading, innovative green finance community and capability. The role of the GFI and events like this summit are vital if we are to keep investing in that capability, rising to the challenge and taking the opportunities that the energy transition will bring.

David Lunsford, Head of Development for Carbon Delta said:

“We are fully dedicated to helping the financial sector align their activities with a sustainable future, which we believe should involve the consideration of climate change risks and opportunities in the investment portfolio construction process.

"The Summit should move the discussion on financial risk management and disclosure on climate change forward. The UK government's devotion to this topic is impressive, commendable and necessary for progress to continue.”